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Lehigh Valley IronPigs
The Lehigh Valley IronPigs are a minor league baseball team, serving as the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The park, which opened for the start of the team's first season in 2008, seats 8,100 and cost $50.25 million to complete. Previously, the team operated as the Ottawa Lynx (2007), in Ottawa, Ontario before moving to Allentown. Preceding the Lynx, the Philadelphia Phillies' Triple-A team was known as the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons, which existed from 1987-2006, and played their home games at PNC Field in Moosic, Pennsylvania. Unhappy with the local management that owned the franchise, the Phillies decided to move the team to a brand new stadium in Allentown and temporarily entered a one-year Player Development Contract (PDC) with the Ottawa franchise while Coca-Cola Park was being constructed. The Ottawa franchise was then moved to the Lehigh Valley in 2008. The name is a reference to pig iron, used in the manufacturing of steel, for which the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania is world-renowned. History in Allentown, Pennsylvania, home of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.]] Prior to the arrival of the IronPigs, the Lehigh Valley did not have a Major League-affiliated baseball team since 1960, when the Allentown Red Sox left for Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The Allentown Red Sox played at Breadon Field (later called Max Hess Stadium) from 1958-1960, at the site where the Lehigh Valley Mall stands today. The region was previously home to two independent baseball teams: the Allentown Ambassadors of the Northeast League and the Lehigh Valley Black Diamonds of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. The Ambassadors played at Bicentennial Park in Allentown until the team was disbanded in 2004. The Black Diamonds moved from Newburgh, New York in 1999 and were expected to move into a new ballpark near Easton, but the project never came to completion and ultimately was terminated. While the Black Diamonds waited for their new stadium, they played as a traveling team. In 2003, Joseph Finley and Craig Stein began actively pursuing their interest in bringing affiliated baseball to Allentown. Initially, the duo pursued a Single-A franchise when the Ottawa Lynx, the AAA affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, were rumored to be moving to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. When the city of Harrisburg did not upgrade Metro Bank Park to AAA standards, the Baltimore Orioles shifted their interest to Allentown because of its proximity to the Mid-Atlantic. The Phillies also looked into moving their AAA operations to Allentown from the Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre region. For the 2007 season, the Phillies shifted their AAA affiliate to Ottawa, leaving Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre after 18 seasons, while the Orioles affiliated with the Norfolk Tides. The move of the Phillies' Triple-A affiliate to Allentown has been extremely well-received, since the Phillies have a large fan base in the Allentown area, and because the move to Allentown will permit Phillies' players to rehab in Allentown without significant transportation time as compared to Ottawa or Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (Allentown is 60 miles north of Philadelphia). Television and radio coverage in Allentown.]] The IronPigs franchise broadcasts all 72 of its home games on television, a rarity for a minor league team. Local cable outlet Service Electric TV2 carries IronPigs games; the station reaches nearly one million subscribers, predominantly in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. In addition, TV2 will feed its telecasts to Blue Ridge Cable TV-13. Selected Saturday night home games are telecasted over the air on WFMZ-TV 69, which also carries into the Philadelphia area as well as western New Jersey. All 144 IronPigs games are also broadcast on WEEX, an Easton, Pennsylvania-based ESPN Radio affiliate. Television *Service Electric TV2 (Bethlehem) *Service Electric Cablevision (Bethlehem) *Blue Ridge Cable TV13 *WYLN - 35 (Hazleton) *WFMZ-TV - 69 (Allentown) Radio *WEEX - 1230 (Easton) *WTKZ - 1320 (Allentown) *WYBF - 89.1 (Radnor) *WMGH - 105.5 (Tamaqua) *WLSH - 1410 (Lansford) *WNPV - 1440 (Philadelphia) *WPAZ - 1370 (Pottstown) 2008 season On Monday, April 14th, 2008 the Lehigh Valley IronPigs broke an 11-game losing streak by defeating the Richmond Braves 3-1 at their new home stadium Coca-Cola Park. This win was both the first home win for the team and also their first win ever as the IronPigs. Early on in the season Shane Victorino made a rehab start of the IronPigs. In July 2008, Phillies starter Brett Myers pitched a few games for the IronPigs trying to work on his command at the insistence of the Phillies. 2009 season In 2009, former Phillies' pitchers Kyle Kendrick and J. C. Romero pitched for the team. Kendrick was assigned to the IronPigs after failing to make the Phillies starting roster for 2009. Romero pitched for the IronPigs in May 2009 following a 50-game suspension for failing Major League Baseball's substance abuse policy, after he tested positive for the use of androstenedione. Logos and uniforms Image:IronPigs I.png|'Jersey sleeve logo' Image:LV IronPigs II.png|'Batting practice' Mascot On December 1, 2007, the IronPigs selected "PorkChop" as the name of their mascot from 7,300 submitted names. On December 2, 2007, the name was changed to Ferrous, derived from the chemical name for iron, because of complaints from the local Puerto Rican population, who alleged that "Pork Chop" was a racist term, despite the name being submitted by a young girl who lived in the Lehigh Valley area. IronPigs Hear More Complaints In 'PorkChop' Mascot Name Flap - Sports News Story - WCAU | Philadelphia Season-by-season records * - Current season. These statistics reflect games played through July 16, 2008. Current roster See also * History of baseball in Allentown, Pennsylvania References External links *Lehigh Valley IronPigs Official Web Site. *[http://www.mcall.com/sports/baseball/ironpigs/ Lehigh Valley IronPigs at The (Allentown) Morning Call]. *[http://blogs.mcall.com/ironpigs/ "The Hog Blog," a blog on the Lehigh Valley IronPigs by The (Allentown) Morning Call]. Category:Allentown, Pennsylvania Category:International League teams Category:Philadelphia Phillies Category:Teams in Pennsylvania Category:Minor League Baseball teams Category:Philadelphia Phillies affiliates Category:AAA Baseball Teams